


A Twenty-Three Step Plan

by LyricIsHereUnfortunately



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Crushes, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute Yamaguchi Tadashi, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, One Shot, Pillow Fights, Plans, Requited Love, Scheming, Sharing a Bed, Sleepovers, Smitten Tsukishima Kei, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Truth or Dare, Tsukishima Kei & Yamaguchi Tadashi Friendship, Tsukishima Kei Being an Asshole, Tsukishima Kei is Bad at Feelings, Tsukishima Kei-centric, Volleyball Dorks in Love, Yamaguchi Tadashi's Freckles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:34:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24669970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyricIsHereUnfortunately/pseuds/LyricIsHereUnfortunately
Summary: Tsukishima Kei knew that Yamaguchi Tadashi was in love with him. He was sure of it.It was quite obvious, with the way Yamaguchi tended to blush cutely when they were close, the way he stuttered when Kei complimented him, the way he fidgeted when the others tried to talk to him about girls. Not to mention the way his eyes sparkled as they trailed Kei on the court.Kei had... similar affections for his best friend -since Elementary school- and it was somewhat comforting to realize that it wasn't onesided.The problem was, how does Kei get him to admit it?
Relationships: (mentioned) - Relationship, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 12
Kudos: 344





	A Twenty-Three Step Plan

Tsukishima Kei knew that Yamaguchi Tadashi was in love with him. He was sure of it.

It was quite obvious, with the way Yamaguchi tended to blush cutely when they were close, the way he stuttered when Kei complimented him, the way he fidgeted when the others tried to talk to him about girls. Not to mention the way his eyes sparkled as they trailed Kei on the court.

Kei had... similar affections for his best friend -since Elementary school- and it was somewhat comforting to realize that it wasn't onesided. 

The problem was, how does Kei get him to admit it?

Kei had a plan, which he put into motion yesterday, exactly three days after he realized Yamaguchi's feelings for him. A twenty-three step plan.

After practice yesterday, he had called to his friend over his shoulder. "We're having a sleepover tomorrow, Yamaguchi."

Yamaguchi had blinked, then his face split into a grin that may or may not have warmed Kei's heart. "Okay, Tsukki."

Kei had clicked his tongue and shoved his hands into his pockets, looking over at where the King of the Court was yelling at Hinata. 

Yamaguchi bid Sugawara a good night and bounded over to his side with a smile. "What all should I bring? Do you wanna play video games again?"

Rolling his eyes, he shrugged and pretended not to notice the way his best friend leaned into his personal space. "Just be there."

Step one accomplished.

And so, the next day, Kei spent most of it preparing snacks and making sure his parents could leave early for their dinner party. Once they were gone, he made his bed and brushed his hair and teeth about fifty times. 

Just as he was pulling his bean bags onto the center of the floor, the doorbell ringed. 

Kei practically ran down the stairs, narrowly missing hitting his foot on the railing, and paused in front of the door. He fixed his glasses and gasped breath before opening it. 

"Hey, Tsukki!" Yamaguchi smiles up at him, adjusting his bag over his shoulder. 

He clears his throat as coolly as he can and gives an equally cool look before turning around. "Hey, Tadashi."

Step two accomplished.

Kei watches Yamaguchi freeze at the doorway for a moment, then he shakes himself out of it. He kicks off his shoes and shuts the door behind him. 

"Sorry for the intrusion!" Yamaguchi calls. 

"You don't have to say that," Kei tells him. "No one's home."

"Oh." Yamaguchi bites his lip. "Sorry, Tsukki."

Kei waves off the apology, not that it was sincere -apologies were Yamaguchi's way of teasing him- , and took his friend's hand, leading him up the stairs. 

"I figured we could eat first." Kei barely spared him a glance. 

"Yeah," Yamaguchi said absently, not taking his eyes off of their joined hands. 

Step three accomplished.

Once they entered the room, Kei dropped his hand to hand him a bowl of chips. He nodded towards the bean bag. "Sit."

"'Kay, Tsukki!" All awkwardness was gone, Yamaguchi sat down and picked the remote off the ground. "What movie do you wanna watch?" 

Kei sat down on the bean bag next to him. "You can pick."

Yamaguchi pretends to be thinking seriously about his options, flipping through the categories on Netflix before putting on a documentary. It's one they've watched before, about dinosaurs. He had obviously picked it for Kei's benefit. 

Kei leans back into his bean bag and stretches out, hooking his ankle around Yamaguchi's. He had made sure that their bean bags were close enough so he could do this. Yamaguchi jumped and looked to him, but he trained his eyes onto the screen. 

Step four accomplished.

Yamaguchi stared at him throughout the entire documentary, but Kei kept his eyes on the screen, occasionally shifting in his seat and pressing their shoulders together. Yamaguchi would tense up every time their skin brushed and Kei would have to bite back a remark.

Step five accomplished. 

The documentary ended and by the time it was done, the room had gone dark. Yamaguchi stood up, nervously, and walked over to turn off the TV. "What should we do now, Tsukki?"

"Let's play Truth or Dare." 

Yamaguchi looks caught off guard for about two and a half seconds before bursting into laughter. "Tsukki, weren't you the one who said that Truth and Dare are for babies?"

"Shut up, Yama." Kei rolls his eyes and Yamaguchi sits back down next to him. 

"Sorry, Tsukki," He teases, giggling. 

Kei decides to put his plan back into action. "Truth or Dare?" He feels incredibly stupid saying it out loud. 

"Truth?" Yamaguchi says it like a question. 

Step six accomplished. 

Kei thought back to his four hours of rehearsing. "Do you have something that you've never told me?"

Step seven accomplished.

He pauses, then nods his head with a shaky laugh. "I can think of a couple, but doesn't everyone have their secrets?"

"What is it?"

He only looked slightly panicked. "It wouldn't be a secret if I told you." He bites his lip. "And that wasn't part of the truth."

Kei leans back in his bean bag, letting it go. He still had sixteen steps to accomplish, after all. 

"Truth or Dare, Tsukki?" Yamaguchi asks as he opens another bag of chips. 

Now he had to play his cards right. "Truth."

"Uh, okay," Yamaguchi chews on a chip thoughtfully. "Who's your least favorite person on the volleyball team?"

Kei barely takes a second to think about it. "The royal couple."

Yamaguchi snorts. "You have to pick one, Tsukki."

"They share one brain cell, at this point they are the same person." Kei rolled his eyes. 

"Did you see them the other day? During lunch?" Yamaguchi giggled snarkily. "I was sure that the King was going to burst a blood vessel when Hinata fed him that sushi."

Kei scrunches his nose. "Disgusting."

Yamaguchi pauses for a moment, looking around the room. "It's getting dark, should I turn on the lights?"

"Go ahead," He nodded. "Truth or Dare?"

"Um, truth." Yamaguchi switched on the lamp and sat at Kei's desk, spinning slightly in the chair. It was... endearing. 

"Again?" Kei thinks for a moment. He'll have to change a step. "Hm. What was your first impression of me?"

Yamaguchi reaches over to Kei's bed and pucks a pillow from the top of and sets it in his lap. "I thought you were really tall." Kei snorts and Yamaguchi's eyes widen. He scrambles to correct himself. "And so cool! And brave."

Kei ignores the heat that rises to his cheeks and lays back into his seat. "Wow, Tadashi, I didn't know that you were friends with me just because of my height."

"What? No!" Yamaguchi sputters and glares at him and he can't fight off the smile that crosses his face. "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare." Kei shrugs.

Yamaguchi grins and throws a pillow, that hits Kei in the chest. "I dare you to have a pillow fight with me."

He rolls his eyes dramatically and stands up from his chair as Yamaguchi shrieks and grabs another pillow. Kei swings softly, barely hitting his best friend's shoulder as Yamaguchi tries to stifle laughter. 

Kei chases him around the room as they hit each other with the soft fabric. Laughter fills the room as Yamaguchi tries to trip him. He only stumbles a bit before turning around and slapping the pillow across the top of Yamaguchi's head. Yamaguchi grins up at him. 

He gets hit in the chest again, but it doesn't really matter much. 

Because Yamaguchi's nose scrunches when he laughs and his freckles stand out even more as he goes slightly pink in the face. His smile is breathtaking. 

They keep playing until their arms get tired, so about two hours and nine steps later, Kei stops them. 

"This is childish," Kei tells him, smacking him in the arm with his pillow. 

Yamaguchi drops his pillow with a grin and raises his hands in mock surrender. "Sorry, Tsukki, but that's what makes it fun."

Kei remembers his plan. "I can think of more fun things that we can do." He tells him, throwing his pillow back onto his bed. 

Step fifteen accomplished. Though, he wasn't sure if that was exactly what he had planned to say. 

The innuendo flies directly over his friend's head anyway. 

Yamaguchi sits on the bed, taking out his phone and gesturing for Kei to sit next to him. "Oh! I just remembered- I forgot to show you this video."

Kei sits, putting his pillows back into their places and laying down, only half listening as Yamaguchi does the same while explaining the video to him. 

Yamaguchi is saying something about the quality of the sound when he presses play and Kei balances his head one his hand to count the freckles on Yamaguchi's nose. It's not something new, he's done it before, but it feels different this time. 

He counts to sixty-eight before putting the next step of his plan into motion. He reaches over with his other hand, feigning boredom, and catches the end of Yamaguchi's shirt in between his fingers. 

Step sixteen accomplished.

Yamaguchi stops mid-sentence and flicks his gaze to meet his. Kei just focuses on tugging slightly at the fabric. He hopes that Yamaguchi can't feel his heartbeat. 

Voice unsteady, Yamaguchi continues talking. 

Kei has to bite back his frustration. He still has seven steps to go, after all. 

He presses closer to him, hoping that Yamaguchi would take the hint. He leans forward a bit and Yamaguchi's hair brushes his 

Yamaguchi does not, in fact, take the hint because he just puts the phone closer so Kei can see it better. 

Kei lets go of Yamaguchi's shirt to reach out and turn off the phone. 

"Truth or Dare?"

"Huh?" Yamaguchi looks at him quizzically. 

"Truth," He insinuates each word. "or Dare?"

Yamaguchi's eyes flicker down to Kei's lips and then back up to his eyes. Kei can feel his heartbeat in his throat. 

"Dare."

Step seventeen accomplished. 

"Do-" Kei pauses, clearing his throat. "Do you like anyone?"

Yamaguchi tears his eyes away, face becoming red. 

Step eighteen accomplished.

He waits as Yamaguchi struggles with his words, then glances over at the clock. "Um, it's almost night time- We should head to bed. Where's the, um, futon?"

Kei leans back, only slightly disappointed. 

"It being cleaned," Kei watched Yamaguchi's eyes widen. "I figured we could just share."

Step nineteen accomplished.

"Yeah, okay." Yamaguchi practically jumps out of the bed. "I'll go wash up. Bye, Tsukki."

He runs out of the room, going to the guest bathroom. 

Kei leans back for a moment, regretting all of his life decisions, then heads to his own bathroom. 

After brushing his teeth (again; this can't be good for him) and putting on his pajamas, he lays back down. He takes off his glasses and rakes his hands over his face. 

He switches off the lamp next to his bed and pulls the blankets over his head. Yamaguchi enters the room not five minutes later. 

"Tsukki?" He whispers, hands out in front of him. "I can't see."

"Right." Kei switches the light back on and Yama blinks to adjust as he walks over to the bed. He's wearing an old T-shirt and shorts. 

Yamaguchi snickers at his pajamas. "You're wearing the PJ's I got you."

Ah, yes. He forgot to mention- That was step twenty. 

"Shut up, Yamaguchi." He snaps lightly as he makes room in the bed for his friend. 

Yamaguchi lays down next to him, pulling the blanket up to his shoulders. "Sorry, Tsukki." He's still whispering. 

It's quiet for a moment and neither of them moves to turn off the light. Kei moves closer to Yamaguchi instead and tangles their legs together. Yamaguchi's breath catches. 

Step twenty-one accomplished. 

"You never answered me," Kei reminded him, reaching over and taking the end of the shirt into his hand once more. 

"What?" Kei leans closer, he can practically feel the heat rising off of Yamaguchi's skin. 

"Do you like anyone?"

Step twenty-two.

"No."

Step twenty- Wait, what?

Kei makes a pathetic, choked noise. "You don't?"

"Nope." Yamaguchi tries to smile, he's a terrible liar. 

"Liar." He says before he can stop himself. Because he is. Because it didn't work. Because it couldn't be the truth.

"I-" Yamaguchi starts, face even redder. "What?"

"You like someone." Kei says, "Don't lie to me."

Yamaguchi looks crestfallen. "Sorry, Tsukki. I do."

He doesn't know what makes him do it, maybe it was the look on Yamaguchi's face. Maybe it was the fact that the plan didn't work. Maybe it was the fact that he has been in love with his best friend for far too long without telling him. 

He leans forward and presses their lips together and when he pulls away, he can't stop the words that escape from his mouth. 

"Just fucking say you like me," He hisses. _Forget the plan_. "I've been trying this entire night to get you to say something and its fucking pathetic."

Yamaguchi's eyes widen and he squeaks out a noise. "I-"

And because all self-control has left him, he presses another kiss to his friend's lips. Yamaguchi reacts this time, placing his hands on the back of his neck and moving their lips together. 

Kei pulls back, his breathing irregular. "Shut up, Yamaguchi."

"Sorry, Tsukki." He bites his lip. "You like me."

"I like you way too much," Kei tells him before catching his lips in another kiss. 

Yamaguchi smiles against his mouth. "I like you too." 

Apparently, he didn't need a plan. 

**Author's Note:**

> Kinda just posting this so people will know I'm not dead. Also, plz comment and let me know what ya'll think.


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